Take Me Back Tuesday: Baseball Simulator 1.000

In honor of tonight’s Major League All Star Game I thought it was fitting to do a “bonus” flashback article this week chronicling one of my favorite baseball games ever! The game came out in 1990 on the NES. The controls were quite simple and very effective. each direction on the D Pad represented a direction of movement for the player or a base to throw to. Pitching and batting were all a matter of timing. The simplicity of this game was absolutely beautiful and completely accessible for anyone who picked up a controller.

With out MLB licensing the teams are divided into the Atlantic League (AL wink, wink) and the Northern League (NL wink, wink) and the teams are balanced. There’s no rating system for each team but you can determine the city where each team is based.

My Favorite part of this game was the Ultra League. Each player in the league was extraordinary and a special power. When the team put their hurlers on the mound they had access to special pitches like the, ultra heater , the stop ball, bat breaker, and the wild pitch. All of them being incredibly hard to hit. Each hitter has its own special swing too with a variety of powers the rocket hit, the bomb hit, the shadow hit, and finally the zig zag hit.

I’m including a video compiled by a youtuber Drink a Beer and Play a Game that shows all these powers. A big thanks to him and his work! (there is some cussing in the video…. turn volume down if you don’t want to hear it, but the visual shows everything I’m talking about.)

While playing as an ultra team you are given a certain amount of ultra points which need to be managed so not every pitch is super and neither is every hit.

My brothers and I would play this all the time when we would stay at the family cabin, we still would if my uncle hadn’t sold off the NES and all the games…… super tragic. This is hands down one of the best baseball games ever made and certainly the best game for NES. Out of pure nostalgia I have been looking for a good, reliable, and safe emulator so I can play this game again. Let me know what you’ve been using in the comments below.

Also share your thoughts or experiences with this or other baseball games NES or other wise.

Go A’s and I’m pulling for the American League in tonights All-Star Game.